The dissertation is the most high stakes and sustained piece of work that most of us ever write: it occupies us during our every waking hour for three or more years and absorbs and frustrates us in equal measure. Yet despite this very personal emotional investment, the dissertation is often seen as a factual and faceless genre concerned with the important academic goals of presenting new claims and new reputations. One aspect of the dissertation where the personal is most clearly revealed is the acknowledgement, an optional genre which is almost universal in dissertation writing. Here writers have a unique rhetorical opportunity to both convey their gratitude for the assistance they have received in completing their research, and to promote a competent scholarly identity. This paper presents an overview of the way I conduct research by describing a corpus study of 240 dissertation acknowledgements written by students at five Hong Kong universities and interviews with student writers. The study helps reveal how acknowledgements are sophisticated and textual constructs which bridge the personal and the public and which allow writers to present themselves as enmeshed in a network of academic and social relationships.

Bio:

Ken Hyland is Professor of Education and Head of the Centre for Professional and Academic Literacies at the Institute of Education, University of London. He has a PhD from the University of Queensland and has taught in Britain, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Hong Kong. He has published over 100 articles and book chapters on language education and academic writing. Recent publications include Hedging in scientific research articles (Benjamins, 1998), Writing: texts, processes and practices (edited with Chris Candlin for Longman, 1999), Disciplinary Discourses (Longman, 2000), Teaching and researching Writing (Longman, 2002), Second Language Writing (Cambridge University Press, 2003), Genre and Second Language Writers (University of Michigan Press, 2004), and Metadiscourse (Continuum, 2005). He is co-editor of the Journal of English for Academic Purposes (with Liz Hamp-Lyons), and is reviews editor of English for Specific Purposes Journal.

Supervising the Dissertation Writing of Overseas Master Students in the UK: Does Feedback Matter?

In the UK, overseas Master students whose first language is not English may find dissertation writing in the third term very difficult and challenging, perhaps because they do not usually get effective feedback from their own supervisors through the dissertation writing stage. This paper reports on a small-scale study conducted among international Master students at the University of Warwick in the UK. Three departments are included: Translation and Cultural Studies, Law and WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group). Using semi-structured interviews, the study aims to investigate the students’ expectations of the dissertation supervision process with particular reference to the feedback processes during the writing stage. Analyzing the findings, I will discuss how the supervisor’s feedback may play a motivational role in helping overseas Master students deal with their dissertation writing more effectively.

The constraints which experienced teachers have to work within have not been given the attention they deserve within English language teacher education and associated research, although their existence is knowledged. On the other hand, experienced teachers? coping strategies have been explored within the field of general education as responses to constraints. My argument is that there can be an alternative way to better understand the reasons underlying the idiosyncratic ways in which experienced teachers solve their difficulties, and that explanations for these can be found within their biographies. I support this argument with data from interviews with two experienced EFL teachers in a Turkish secondary school.

NetMeeting is a type of communication software that enables real-time or synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) among its users via a local area network or over the Internet. It comes with all Microsoft Windows operating systems and is user-friendly. In my research, I have designed ESP tasks to meet the specific needs, analysis and design of computer systems, of Computer Science (CS) students. A group of CS students then conducted these communicative tasks via the chat feature of NetMeeting which enables text-based communication among its interactants. ESP tasks that are carried out by the students via NetMeeting’s chat environment are referred as CMC ESP tasks in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative instruments were used to investigate how an EAP programme involving the use of CMC ESP tasks can benefit students in the process of becoming communicatively competent CS professionals. In this presentation, I will discuss the design and implementation of the tasks via NetMeeting.

Genre Transfer from MSc Dissertations to Published Articles by Thai Scientists: the Tale of Two Disciplines

Genre analysis has been established as one of the significant areas of research in applied linguistics. Its extensive applications to research articles and dissertations have yielded numerous pedagogical benefits to the teaching of writing of these two important academic genres. However, research in some areas of genre analysis is still limited. This study investigates the effects of genre transfer from dissertation to research article in two scientific disciplines. The corpus consists of twelve authentic texts: three dissertations and three corresponding research articles in each of Biotechnology and Environmental Engineering, written by Thai scientists. Move analysis based on findings from previous research is conducted with all sections of text to arrive at rhetorical descriptions specific to different sets of texts in this focused corpus. Initial analysis shows that the texts display different surface structures between these two genres and across these two disciplines. Move analysis reveals different rhetorical structures of the abstracts between these two genres, indicating genre transfer effects and the authors’ strategies to meet the rhetorical demand of different genres. Insights on genre transfer and disciplinary variations gained from this study will help provide support for teaching academic and research writing.

The Role of the Teacher’s Supportive Behaviors (scaffolding) in L2 Story Reading Activity and its Implications

This study is based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (1978), learning through interaction in second language learning and teaching. Through this study, we will be able to see different types of the teacher’s supportive behaviors, different types of initiative moves which bring the teacher’s supportive behaviors, and the student’ different uptake reactions followed by the teacher’s supportive behaviors in second language story activities.

By investigating this feature, we will see not only the importance of the teacher’s scaffolding in order to maximizing the student’s learning but also the importance of having interaction between the teacher and the learner in second language reading session. This feature will be also demonstrated by analyzing different types of questioning raised by both the teacher and the learner.

As a pedagogical implication of this study, we can expect that analyzing interaction in the reading session will be helpful to bring actual reading development. In addition, this study may be useful for the novice teachers to understand the situation of the reading session. Through this application, we can expect to achieve curriculum improvement of the reading session in second language teaching and learning.

Expectation-Experience-Evaluation: a new framework for task motivation

For this conference, I would like to share with all the colleagues my first-hand experience of being a teacher and researcher during the four-month fieldwork back in China last year. The focus of my presentation will be put on the process of data collection, as well as the achievement and difficulties which occurred to me while conducting a task-related motivational research in a real classroom in a university setting. Meanwhile, the theoretical background of my study will be introduced at the beginning of my presentation, including the literature of three areas (i.e. Motivation, Task, Culture.) and a framework I particularly designed for this research (i.e. 3E framework).

Language learning motivation is a complex phenomenon, the study of which requires a multivariate framework. Different models of language learning motivation have been developed to identify motivational factors in educational settings. One of these, the cultural belief hypothesis, has been investigated to uncover the relationship between cultural beliefs and the development of integrative motivation. In the Thai educational context, where English is treated as foreign language and learners are limited to interacting in English within the confines of the classroom, the integrative motive tends to be less prevalent than the instrumental motive. The aim of this paper is to explore the cultural belief hypothesis with reference to Thai culture. The relationship between nine cultural values and language learning motivation will be investigated. These nine cultural values constitute common characteristics elements within the Thai culture. They are the Ego, grateful relationships, smooth interpersonal relationships, flexibility and adjustment, religio-psychical orientation, education and competence, interdependence, fun-pleasure and achievement-task. The paper aims to see whether these values affect Thai students’ learning motivation via the use of motivation questionnaires designed for Thai context and follow-up interviews.

A Study of Connectives in Argumentative Essays: Similarities and Differences between Chinese Writers and Native English Writers

The study reports an investigation on the use of connectives related to writing quality in fifty English argumentative essays written by Chinese writers and native writers. The essays are different quality samples of TEM4 and IELTS writing tasks, and are analyzed based on the scheme of connectives of Halliday and Hasan (1976). Comparative items are the frequency of connectives, the number of connectives, the types of connectives, the positions of connectives, and the top five connectives and their types in different quality English essays. Results show that the use of connectives is closely related to writing quality. Features of connectives used in low and high quality essays are summarized in this paper. Furthermore, the similarities and differences in the use of connectives between Chinese and English writers in the fifty essays are also presented in this study. Finally, pedagogical approaches are suggested based on the findings of the research.

Reasons for Plagiarising Among International Students: A Report on a Questionnaire-based Study

Plagiarism has become a very important concern for educators in British higher education in recent years. The context of teaching academic English to international students can be seen as a very important and appropriate place to introduce and exercise plagiarism prevention strategies among this category of students. In the recent literature, there have been a number of attempts to investigate international students’ beliefs and attitudes to plagiarism; however, there seems to be insufficient attention to researching why international students plagiarise. Discovering students’ reasons for plagiarising can provide vital clues for developing effective preventive measures to solve the plagiarism issue.

This presentation will report on the 2004 questionnaire-based study which aimed at investigating reasons for plagiarism, as well as beliefs about and attitudes to acknowledging sources in academic writing, among international students attending the pre-sessional course in academic English administered by the Centre for English Language Teacher Education, University of Warwick. The findings of this study and their implications will be the focus of this presentation.

Collocations are regarded in ELT as idiomatic pairings of words which simply have to be learnt. Learners are taught to spot them, record them, and memorise them. But is this the right approach to teaching collocation?

In this presentation I will show that there are different types of collocation and many of them can be explained. I will report on the results of my corpus-based research which looked at the factors that influence the way in which native speakers use groups of common nouns and verbs from the domain of business English.

The results show that there are a number of factors, such as the core meaning of a particular word, or the way that we use a word metaphorically, which influence our choice of collocates. The evidence from several corpora shows that words such as run, manage, head, and aim, objective, target goal, do not mean the same and that there are subtle differences which are reflected in their collocational behaviour.

According to Michael Lewis the teacher should never attempt to give any explanation because whatever he or she might say is bound to be flawed. Is he right, or is it possible to explain some collocations, thereby making them more memorable for learners?

It would probably be fair to say that in the majority of English language schools, teachers come under scrutiny from their supervisors at least once a year, when they are subject to a formal classroom observation. Some teachers are given time to prepare, whilst others are given no notice and have an observation thrust upon them. However, all need to decide what type of lesson they will teach when the time comes: will it be the lesson that they would normally teach at this point in the syllabus, or will it be a ‘model lesson’? In this context, a model lesson would be the ‘bells and whistles’ version created for the occasion, acting as a showcase for a range of teaching techniques and abilities.

The proposal for this session stems from my research into classroom discourse, as the concept of ‘model lessons’ has frequently arisen during interviews with teachers and supervisors. It seems that the question as to whether or not they should be used, and in what circumstances, can be emotive, and prompts strong viewpoints. The aim of this presentation is to discuss in what context a ‘model lesson’ might be considered appropriate, and by whom, in order to give a clearer idea as to the effect of different observation strategies on students, teachers and supervisors.

The Student Sojourner: Opportunities and Challenges of Residence Abroad

Learning or staying in the target language community offers language learners opportunities to contact the people and the culture related to that language. It is expected that the experience can help and motivate learners to learn and acquire the language. However, the period of staying is not only a matter of going to classes and talking to native speakers. The social and affective factors which learners bring with them and develop in the target language community play crucial roles. This paper will describe plans for an investigation into how these two factors motivate, and even demotivate, learners' learning while they are staying in the target language community.

In Taiwan, private EAP support centres generally face a number of problems. One main problem is the lack of well-trained EAP teachers. This is why it is important to design appropriate EAP in-service teacher training courses that might play a crucial role in helping Taiwanese novice teachers improve their EAP professional practice. This paper aims to shed some light on an in-service teacher training course that the researcher has already designed to help the novice teachers improve their EAP teaching skills more effectively. It also intends to discuss how the course designed is based on sound principles of teacher training.

Adult learners in English Language Teacher Education: A Comparison of Two Groups

This study investigates how adult learners learn and whether there are differences in the approaches used by younger adult learners and mature adult learners in their learning. 17 student teachers who are pursuing their graduate studies at the Centre for English Language Teacher Education (CELTE), University of Warwick, UK, in the 2004-2005 session, participated in the study. The participants were categorized into the two groups based on their age and number of years of teaching experience. The study aims to investigate the problems these adult learners have in their learning, their ways of coping with these problems and to explore whether there are differences in the ways the two groups cope with their learning. This qualitative research used focus group interviews and individual interviews as instruments of the study. A full report of the findings will be given during the presentation.

In my presentation, I will focus on the research methodology adopted in my research on the concept of learner-centred teaching perceived and practiced by primary English teachers in China. For the particular purpose of my research, mixed methods were employed which combined both quantitative and qualitative approaches. As far as the quantitative data is concerned, nearly 1000 questionnaires were collected from eight different regions in China for finding out how Chinese primary English teachers perceive learner-centredness. For the qualitative data, 20 observations on accepted good practices were made followed in each case by the teachers’ self-reflections on the lessons given, and individual, paired or group/discussion interviews, where appropriate to the contexts. The main purpose of the qualitative data is to find out how classroom teaching is done with regard to learner-centred teaching. After introducing the research methodology, I will, in particular, report on the qualitative data collection processes with regard to the particular contexts that I encounter during my visits to schools in China.

When engaging in fieldwork, we observe something that has never exactly occurred before and would not be an object of study now were we not doing it. Our work is always unique in time and place´ (Wolcott, 1995: 233).

In this presentation I will describe some of the activities carried out during my fieldwork in schools in Xalapa, Veracruz, México for my current PhD studies. Issues such as dealing with gatekeepers, representing your research, keeping in contact with your participants, and renegotiating access in a study of transition will be explored. The experiences and lessons gained from dealing with these issues will be shared.

Research on planning effects on L2 oral performance suggests that planning leads to better fluency and complexity but not always better accuracy. Yuan and Ellis (2003) indicate that the inconsistent results of accuracy are due to confounding pre-task planning with on-line (while-task) planning, and propose the latter as an effective task implementation to enhance accuracy as well as complexity in task-based instruction. Built on the findings from the previous studies, the purpose of my research is to develop the planning framework and attempt to explore the link of planning and focus-on-form research by investigating the relationship between the different planning conditions and task performance within the task-based framework. More specifically, the study inquires whether on-line planning induces L2 learners to raise conscious awareness of form through accurate oral performance. To explore these points, the study comprises a two-fold research design: One is, developing the previous research on interlanguage variables, to examine the performance of L2 speakers in terms of a wide range of fluency, accuracy and complexity variables; to develop this understanding, the second part, using stimulated recall verbal reports, explores the L2 speakers’ underlying thought processes during pre-task planning and task performance in the three planning conditions.

This presentation is about the marking procedure of CET-4, College English Test, Band 4 of China, a national standardised English test for undergraduate students which involves millions of candidates twice a year. This is part of my field work in China in January and February, when I experienced the good organization of a seemingly impossible marking task. The presentation also includes a brief summary of analysis of a questionnaire on 33 raters working as my colleagues.

Teaching practice and post-observation feedback form an essential part of many initial teacher training courses. It is through observed teaching practice that candidates are provided with the opportunity to get a feel for classrooms and for being a language teacher. It is through tutor and peer feedback that they are provided with opportunities to develop and progress. This study focuses on one such course, the 4-week introductory Certificate in TEFL course, delivered every summer at Aston University. It explores the feedback discourse in terms of the impact it may have on teacher learning and change.

Two types of feedback, confirmatory and corrective, will be discussed, and the former will then made the focus of the session in its role as a potential instigator of teacher learning and change. It will be argued that corrective feedback leads to the kind of change that is convergent in nature whereas confirmatory feedback seems to be facilitative of a change that is more divergent in essence.

Play in general has been acknowledged as a medium for learning, and role play itself, is considered vital in Early Childhood Education (Hall and Robinson, 1998; Moyles, 1992; Lyle, 2002). Earlier research on role play, not only uses it as a means for facilitating children’s power of imagination, critical thinking and reasoning, but also analyses the complex nature of role play itself, as children continuously engage in interactive dialogues and negotiation with their play partners, reproducing adult roles, recreating their own experiences which are meaningful in their eyes, and developing ‘ownership’ in their own learning situations. Even though previous research provides evidence on the privileged nature of role play, very few studies have used it as a tool to understand children’s perceptions of literacy learning in bilingual contexts (Gregory, 1996).

In an ethnographic study of Year One Malaysian children learning English and Bahasa Malaysia (BM), role play was used as a research tool in an attempt to overcome the researcher’s paradox and gain insights into what happens in class when the observer is not present. In this sense, the tool creates a productive third space between the observed and unobserved classroom discourse, as perceived by the children. The children were asked to act, for the researcher, their English lessons and their BM lessons. The researcher-initiated play provides evidence of how the children have internalised and represent the regulatory and instructional discourse practices of the teacher and learner roles in the two classrooms. Children slip easily into teacher roles, and offer the researcher insights, particularly into the regulatory discourse, that she would not otherwise have gained.

Concepts of Learner Autonomy in Chinese Conceptions of Good Language Learning

The promotion of learner autonomy has been justified on ideological, psychological and economical grounds (Crabbe, 1993). However, there are two schools of thought regarding the appropriateness of autonomy in China: one claims learner autonomy to be a western construct and that its cultural appropriateness needs further examination while the other finds evidence of autonomy in Chinese traditions and questions the opinion that Chinese culture is an obstacle to developing learner autonomy. This paper juxtaposes contemporary western literature on learner autonomy and ancient Chinese cultural traditions and points out the danger to hold learner autonomy to be a western culturally determined concept. Moreover, this paper suggests the necessity of investigating Chinese conceptions of good language learning in order to trace how concepts of learner autonomy are interpreted. In particular, in a context when the newly revised College English Language Teaching Curriculum prioritises learner autonomy, it is believed an examination into administrators’, teachers’ and learners’ perspectives on the concept is of vital importance. In conclusion, the paper reiterates the importance of seeking for concepts of learner autonomy in Chinese conceptions of good language learning and avoiding cultural stereotypes in discussion on promotion of learner autonomy. It is suggested that institutions, teachers and family education are instrumental in influencing learners’ conceptions

As teachers, our colleagues and students may regard us as good models one day, but the next they may come up with a completely different impression. The same is true when we have to play the role of a curriculum designer. The experience we have as teachers supports our participation in designing a new study plan. However, that does not always seem to justify our role as curriculum designers in the eyes of our colleagues, nor even in our own eyes. This paper will explore different roles played by teachers, their perceptions and attitudes emerging from acting as curriculum designers in a team. Furthermore, these roles will be considered not only in an educational setting, but also in a social environment. Teachers do not necessarily stop acting as such or curriculum designers outside school, although they may not be aware of the various other roles that they play, why they play them and what influences the perception they, or others, have of them. In addition, the level of awareness they have of the roles they play will be explored as well as the focal and subsidiary dimensions of consciousness in which these roles shift, not forgetting the emotional dimension, which is the force that moves the role shifting.

There are 12 European schools in Europe: they are public institutions, which promote culture, mother tongue education as well as education in other languages -there are 11 official languages in the Union-. They are official educational establishments controlled jointly by the governments of the Member states of The European Union.

I would like to explore issues that arise from the implementation of change in a multicultural and multilingual setting and investigate a potential relationship between change and staff professional development. Therefore I am mainly interested in teachers' perceptions of how they have developed in the above setting and look at it as a case study.

I am going to use semi structured, exploratory interviews with the staff (in English) and classroom observation at some points (Observation should contribute to aspects of interview about appraisal –maybe other aspects of change as well- and should help me understand how teachers perceive change in the classroom.)

With my findings I hope I could place some value to European schools, which appreciate the role of culture and multilingualism in student learning, and shed light on strengths and weaknesses of the teachers’ roles and opinions when working in such an environment. What does change depend on in a multicultural, multilingual environment according to the teachers?

There are different ways of classifying student needs, but this study focused on the situations in which the ESOL students in two classes use English and their strategies for dealing with these situations. It was found that there were a variety of day-to-day situations where students used English with greater or lesser confidence. The students could be divided into two groups: those who dealt with situations as best they could; and those who were more likely to use avoidance strategies and get other people to do things for them. It was found that the materials in use for teaching these classes cover some very relevant topic areas, but that there are gaps in other areas. In addition the weaker students need support to teach them strategies to develop more than their language skills.